John Pickett, Socialist Party comrade and postal worker, has died very suddenly at the age of 63. I first met John in the early 1980s, just after he returned to Portsmouth after being at college in Stoke.

A large group of anti-cuts protesters, including Socialist Party members, gathered outside county hall in Newport on the Isle of Wight last week. Inside, the council met to decide on where to make £12.75 million of cuts this year and further millions over the next four years.

A solidarity demonstration organised by the transport union RMT took place at Portsmouth ferry terminal on 18 February to support striking deck crew who had organised a sit-in on board the Condor Ferry 'Rapide' in St Malo, writes Nick Chaffey.

Launching the battle in Scotland: Margaret Thatcher was dubbed the Iron Lady. She wore this description with pride as, like her successors today, she ruthlessly tried to solve British capitalism's difficulties by launching brutal attacks...

On 22 September, dozens of police from Southampton and Portsmouth descended on the protest camp outside the Vestas factory on the Isle of Wight (IOW). They removed tents, personal and political material and served 'exclusion notices' to several Vestas workers who were told to stay away from the Vestas factory for the next three months, writes Nick Chaffey.

Vestas wind turbine workers and their supporters rallied and took to the streets of Newport, Isle of Wight, on their day of action on 17 September. They were buoyed up by their visit, as members of the RMT union, to the TUC Congress. "We were given a standing ovation by the TUC during Ed Miliband's speech...

Interview: At the Socialist Party's summer camp, Mark Smith and Mark Flowers, workers who had been in occupation at the St Cross Vestas wind turbine manufacturers on the Isle of Wight (IOW), spoke to The Socialist...

"WHAT DO we want? Nationalisation", "Vestas Out, Workers in!", were the chants of Vestas workers and their supporters as we took to the streets of Sandown, Isle of Wight, on 22 August getting great support from locals and holiday-makers.

Editorial: The courageous workers' occupation at the Vestas wind turbine plant in Newport on the Isle of Wight has been followed and supported by many in the trade union movement over the last few weeks...

Support Vestas workers: The 25 Vestas workers occupying the wind turbine factory on the Isle of Wight have created an international furore over jobs and the future of the environment. They have huge support from their work colleagues, families and workers on the Isle of Wight and beyond...